PHILADELPHIA -- Darryl Tapp had a tough time keeping his mouth closed Wednesday during the second day of Eagles practice.

The nonstop chatter evoked memories of Asante Samuel, who had something to say about teammates, coaches, the weather and even the media, whose names he tended to mispronounce.

"I've always been vocal," Tapp said. "But last year we had the great Asante here. He was the main leader as far as the vocals. This is a different team this year. We've got a lot of goals we're trying to accomplish and we're just going to keep working every day."

The irony of Tapp's talkativeness is that this Eagles team without Samuel already has circled the wagons.

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Andy Reid has convinced his players that drama is their biggest enemy. To a man, they've gone bland. It's as if they've taken a vow of silence.

"Hey, it's Philadelphia," Tapp said. "There could be drama about anything. I came out here with white socks on instead of black socks on. That's drama. But I think this team has the makeup to where we're going to keep things in-house. Keep things in-house and not let outside influences deter us from our goal."

The approach is pure Andy Reid. In exchange for players keeping everything important quiet, the Big Guy has their backs for everything that goes wrong -- no matter whose fault it is.

It's early for this act. Typically the Eagles aren't in their quiet mode until a sloppy September turns into a make-or-break October. But this is no ordinary season for the Eagles.

Samuel is gone. Gone also is his outrage over being on the trade block as well as his anger over the alleged power struggle he identified between Reid and the front office. In a way, Samuel's very public insinuations that power was an issue helped Reid regain his clout and possibly even stick around after an 8-8 season. Samuel was sacrificed.

The Eagles also silenced two potential issues. In signing DeSean Jackson and LeSean McCoy to long-term contract extensions, the Eagles nipped the drama in the buds, if you will.

"You don't want to let anything from the outside really split us up," Tapp said. "We've got to be on the same track, the same page this year. And that's something that we've really been focusing on. Since we started with our offseason workouts, everybody has been here working and sweating at the same time. That's something we want to continue to carry out throughout the rest of these OTAs and the minicamps. Everybody keep your nose clean and then when training camp gets here, full throttle."

Speaking of throttle, the Eagles have been looking pretty good defensively in a noncontact setting.

Nnamdi Asomugha is going to be their shutdown corner. If it's a big-time receiver, a star tight end or whoever, Asomugha is their Darrelle Revis.

Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie is the other corner, and he's grown biceps. If DRC stays healthy, he'll be the next Bird to land a contract extension.

Safeties Kurt Coleman and Nate Allen have competition from Jai Jarrett, who intercepted a pass Wednesday.

Asomugha has emerged as the quiet leader of the secondary.

"I think the less we say and the more we play, the better off we'll be," Asomugha said. "Obviously there's going to be people that aren't expecting a lot. There's people that are expecting a lot. Those are things that we can't control. When we don't say much and we just go out and focus and do our job, I think it helps out a lot."